Arrived today, serial # 011, signed by Mike B. Very much like my MuTron III, plus it does some things it can't (not that that's important for Jerry stuff). Main thing is it sounds just like the MuTron and it's not 40 years old!

"Do not write so that you can be understood, write so that you cannot be misunderstood." -Epictetus

"ABOUT THE NEW "MU and PRE" controls and "MU-PRE" switch.In the MU position the unit operates exactly like the Mu-Tron III original by Musitronics Corp. As you turn up the dial, both the ENVELOPE and the AUDIO VOLUME increase at the same time. Usually you can dial in a "sweet spot" between 3 and 6 on the MU dial (blue pointer).If you turn the switch to PRE, the ENVELOPE and the AUDIO LEVEL are independent.MU controls the envelope drivePRE controls the audio level.

So in that (PRE) setting you can get exactly the envelope drive you want (usually on the loudest notes or chords you hit, the yellow ENV SATuration) will light up for a moment, then everything else you play will be in the "dynamic filtering" range.

And you can INDEPENDENTLY set the audio level from super quiet to brashly distorted (depending on your guitar pickup output).I am not sure, but I think at SOME settings of VERY DISTORTED input to the filter (and trying ALL the other controls to see what happens), it might be an UNLIKELY form of distortion that could have some musical uses.REMEMBER TO TURN THE AMP VOLUME DOWN WHEN USING THIS KIND OF "FILTER OVERDRIVE" SO YOU WON'T BREAK YOUR AMP OR YOUR EARDRUMS!!!!!!

This is sort of a beginning to the OPERATION MANUAL not included in anything we have shipped to you folks who bouht the product.

THE MANUAL will either be sent to you by Email or posted on website or Mike Mu-Tron Facebook page.

Thanks and GOOD LUCK with this new feature set. m mt "

This explains a lot :

From July:

"The MU is back!

Dear friends,

After many years of different kinds of professional experience in electronics and much thought about what is my favorite kind of work, I realized that Musical electronics was my original and and still most interesting, so I am now starting up a "boutique" musical products business.

The first products will be (authorized) re-issues of the Musitronics "Mu-Tron" pro...ducts made in the 1970's and still popular today. Since somebody else "copped" the Mu-Tron trademark and put out a phony re-issue, it is necessary for me to start out with a new product name. The name for the new product line will be......... Mu-FX (tm) by Beigel Sound Lab.

The very first product, a re-issue of the ORIGINAL original Mu-Tron III according to the ORIGINAL circuit design. A few new added features will increase its versatility without taking anything away from the memorable Mu-**** sound. It will be housed in a smaller sized "cast aluminum FX stompbox housing" similar to what most "boutique" product makers use. But the circuitry will be Pure Pedigreed "Mu-mojo" as good as it can get. Product announcement will be "very soon" and pre-production sales will start in early August 2013.The first 100 units will be individually calibrated, tested and signed by... me.

Availability will begin through a new website, (name to be announced as soon as we have all the details of pricing and delivery worked out). I hope that the devoted fans of the REAL ORIGINAL Mu-Tron (Trademark is now unfortunately "owned" by "somebody else" ) will be happy with this new reasonably priced AUTHORIZED BY THE FOUNDERS OF MUSITRONICS CORP--of the product that Stevie Wonder used in his 1973 hit "Higher Ground", and so many other legends of Jazz, Rock, Reggae, etc used to introduce a really NEW kind of sound that has continued to echo through the intervening years.

All analog circuitry and emulation of the original Mu-Tron III will mean "audibly indistinguishable" performance of the 1972 product with "A-B" listening test results available on the new web site.You Mu fans are invited to tell your friends and they can tell their friends, because funding (from my pocket) will go into engineering, quality control and new product design, with only enough advertising budget to let the people who don't have "grapevine" connections to find out about the product.My sincere thanks to the original founders of Musitronics Corp. for their full support and authorization of the new product series, and the kind letters of people from all over the world for their support and "waiting" for the new product line to be introduced as fast as I can re-engineer the products to as near "perfection" as possible.A company is more than one person, and I am now looking for a very few people with the right kind of experience and professional integrity to turn this long-time dream into a company in the spirit of the original Musitronics Corporation. (and some other "person" trademarked THAT name too, based on what credentials I cannot figure out.)

But what's in a name? It's the SOUND that counts in THIS business, and I want to give back THE SOUND of the original to all musicians who want to use it.Thanks,Mike"

"Do not write so that you can be understood, write so that you cannot be misunderstood." -Epictetus

Hey, jkstraw, apologies for tagging behind you here and on TGP, but I got mine today as well and I also thought I'd throw together a quick demo comparing it to a MuTron III. This pedal rocks! It definitely has the secret sauce that the MUIII has.

My notes from the video:

A very brief demo comparing the sounds from a vintage MuTron III with a similarly setup MU-FX Tru-Tron 3X, intended to show they sound very similar indeed. I just got the TruTron, and I am very pleased with it! Great job, Mike Beigel!!

Note: I don't claim to be good, so no comments on my playing, please

The guitar is a Kramer 450G with Jerry Garcia-like pickups and electronics. This was recorded using the middle pickup (a Dimarzio Super II) in single coil mode. The guitar also has an onboard effects loop and unity gain buffer, so both 'Trons are seeing maximum signal from the guitar. This is also why I used an effects switcher, so I could more easily use the OBEL.

The amp is a Fargen Dual Classic, using the BlackBird channel, which sounds very similar to a BF Super Reverb. The speaker is a JBL K120.

The camera is an older Kodak digital, and I'm using the built in mic, which sucks! I had to turn the amp down quite a bit to keep from overdriving the mic. Sounded much better in the room with the amp louder, but not on the video. This is my first demo of any sort, and this is what we had at hand, so apologies for the not-so-great sound.

redeyedjim wrote:Hey, jkstraw, apologies for tagging behind you here and on TGP, but I got mine today as well and I also thought I'd throw together a quick demo comparing it to a MuTron III. This pedal rocks! It definitely has the secret sauce that the MUIII has.

Hey bro - that isn't my demo - it was posted by youtube user "Priestfilms" - I was just posting for the group as there had been a request to hear some samples. I am up in Canada and am guessing mine is stuck in customs for some crazy amount of time

All good things in all good time....or so I have heard! Thanks for your video...especially the intro commentary - had me crakin' a good smile! Great stuff bro and congrats!